The $130,000 Backdoor to Europe: EU Slams Shut Vanuatu's 'Golden Passport' Scheme
For years, a tiny Pacific island offered a fast-track to visa-free European travel. But when criminals and fugitives started using it, Brussels had to act.
Published on: June 5, 2025
A Passport for a Price: The Ultimate Travel Hack?
What if you could bypass visa applications and background checks for just $130,000? For years, the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu offered just that. Its controversial "golden passport" program was a straightforward transaction: pay the fee, get a passport, and unlock visa-free travel to over 120 countries—including the entire Schengen Area.
On the surface, it was a citizenship-by-investment program. In reality, it became a dangerous backdoor into Europe.
A Welcome Mat for the Underworld
The European Union began to notice a disturbing pattern. The buyers of these passports weren't just legitimate investors. They included individuals on international sanctions lists and fugitives with active arrest warrants. The scheme was creating a massive security blind spot for the Schengen Zone.
The issue exploded into the public eye with the case of controversial influencer Andrew Tate, who allegedly secured a Vanuatu passport while under arrest in Romania. He became the poster child for a problem that Brussels could no longer ignore: the integrity of the Schengen border was being sold to the highest bidder.
Brussels Slams the Door Shut
In a decisive move, the EU Council officially revoked Vanuatu's visa-free travel privileges. The message was unequivocal: access to Europe's borderless zone is a matter of trust and security, not a commodity to be bought and sold.
This crackdown is part of a wider effort by the EU to scrutinize citizenship-by-investment schemes around the world. The era of the 'golden passport' as an easy ticket into Europe is coming to an end, as Brussels works to ensure that the only keys to the Schengen Area are legitimate ones.